Holding His Heart
by insanity and co
Summary: After the Gods receive their powers, Anders notices that something is missing—his powers aren't returned to him. The Oracles believe half of his powers were given to his other half; a woman who would hold his heart. Anders understands one nights stands, but love isn't his thing and he's completely out of his comfort zone when his One turns out to be a nerdy young girl, Penelope. AU
1. Chapter 1

**Holding His Heart**

_~insanity and co~_

Chapter One; "Meet Penny, Bragi's One"

* * *

Twenty more minutes.

Twenty more minutes and I can close the store and go home and _sleep_. I had been tired since the start of my shift, and restocking shelves and tidying a small movie store wasn't exactly _enticing_ work. I did get to look at the new movies that had just come in, but it would be a while before we had enough in stock so I could take a few home and watch them, so they were only interesting for so long.

Towards the end of the Friday night shift – as per usual – we would get a small rush of customers, so I was content to stand at the counter and make small talk with a few of the regulars.

"I'm Axl," a boy blurt out, awkwardly turning to look at the customer behind him. He isn't a usual, but he was rather chatty and I suppose I did work in customer service, so I smile back.

"Hello Axl," I respond, scanning the movies on the counter and waiting for the horribly slow computer to churn out a total for him.

"What's your name?"

"I'm sort of wearing a name tag," I answer, pointing to my pocket which – low and behold – held my name.

"Oh, right. Haha, didn't really see that...Penny."

"That's my name."

"It's a nice name."

"Thank you, I didn't really pick it out though. I'll pass the compliments onto my parents."

"Yeah, right, right. How much'll it be?"

"Dunno yet, sorry." I slap the side of the monitor and for just a moment the screen when static. The picture returns a second later, little box labeled _Total_ still loading. "This thing is ridiculously slow."

"Oh, no problem. I'm meeting someone later to watch these, so I'm not in a hurry or anything."

"Friday night date night?" I ask, smile falling abruptly when he nods. "Uh...look. No offense, but no chick's going to want to watch old war documentaries on a Friday night. Unless she's really into that kind of thing," I say, quickly backtracking because he looked either very confused or offended.

"Old war..." Axl cranes his neck to read the titles of the movies. "...documentaries." I raise my eyebrows and wait; did he not even look at what he was picking up off the shelf? "Maybe I should pick something else."

"Yeah, that might be a good idea." I try not to sound too irritated, but now I had to wait for the stupid computer to load the total, void it, and then start all over again. The customer behind him is already peeved at the wait, and I'm not exactly the epitome of patience when I'm tired.

"Any suggestions?"

"Try something down there," I say, pointing down the aisle. "Romantic comedies are a better idea than documentaries. Nothing about friends with benefits, though."

"Yeah, thanks."

"Can you just ring me up?" The man behind Axl steps up, combing his fingers through his beard and nearly slamming his movie down on the counter. "I'm kind of in a hurry."

"Yeah, sure. Membership card, please." He fishes the card out of his pocket and I scan it into the computer, a loud beep making me jump – it does that _every _time – and he impatiently raises his eyebrows. It feels like we go through this every Friday night, probably because we _do_. "Well, Mr. Lan, it looks like you've got seven overdue movies. I do believe that's a record this time."

"Well can I get this one?" He slid another over the counter to me – another horror movie. Judging by the titles of the overdue ones he was a huge fan.

"Not until you return the other seven or pay for them."

"Isn't there some policy?"

"Some policy?"

"Yeah, about renting movies out without having to go through silly memberships." He smiles, dropping the pissy look for just a moment and I sigh.

"No, there's no policy about that. Look-" I smile and wait until Mr. Lan is looking at me again, "-it would really make my day a whole lot easier if you would return those movies," I say, my voice slow and even. For just a moment the man's eyelids droop and he looks relaxed, he even faintly smiles. It fades seconds later, and once again he looks pissed off – though a red tinge creeps up from his beard.

"I lost them."

"Then you'll have to pay for them."

"Right." Mr. Lan turns slowly, leaving the movie on the counter and the door dings when he leaves.

"So you use your powers to get people to return their overdue movies?" Axl steps back up to the counter and places two more movies down. I slide Mr. Lan's into a bin to be restocked and scan Axl's card again.

"My powers?" I scan his new movies and wait for a total. Much better choices this time.

"Yeah, you know...the powers," Axl whispers, leaning over the counter. There were no other customers in the store...so why was he whispering? _Ahh, Friday night,_ I thought to myself, _probably already drunk._

"I don't have any powers," I whisper back.

"What do you mean? I just saw you use them, you know, the way you talked to that guy." Axl turns just in time to see Mr. Lan's car pull out of the parking lot.

"Talking to people? That's my special power?"

"Not just talk. You know, _talk_."

"Right," I say slowly, sliding his movies across the counter to him. "Your total." I turn the small screen towards Axl and he fishes some change out of his pocket.

"Your powers won't work on me," he says with a grin, handing me the money. It took a moment to sort all the small change he had given me.

"Is that right?" I murmur, not in the mood to encourage the rantings of a drunk man...even if he could compose himself enough to pass as sober. Only a ten more minutes until I could close.

"Yeah, you know, cause I'm a God too."

"You're a God?" I ask, taking my eyes off the till for a moment to look at him.

_Eyes aren't red, so he isn't stoned. Drunk it is._

"Yeah."

"I think you're off your medication," I say, giving him his change. "Here's your movie."

He takes them and it almost sounds like he says something else, but when I look up he's already leaving, the ding echoing around the empty store. He stands outside for a moment, taking out a phone and I go up to the front door and turn the _Open_ sign to _Closed_.

_A few minutes early won't make much of a difference,_ I think to myself.

He looks back into the store, talking to someone frantically but I couldn't hear anything through the glass, so I turn to finish closing the store.

* * *

"What do you mean you found her?" Ty shoots up from the couch and walks into the kitchen, phone to his ear and leaving Anders in the living room.

"Who found who?"

"Who do you think? Axl found your One," Ty says, shushing Anders. "Say that again? Her name's Phranny?"

"Oh no, I'm going to need a drink for this," Anders says, quickly going to the kitchen and he rummages through the cupboard and pulls out a shot glass.

"Oh, Penny."

Anders thinks for a moment before shrugging and leaving the shot glass on the counter. "Cute name, how'd she look?"

"Works at the movie store a mile over," Ty says, putting his hand over the phone. "And would you _shut up_?"

"No! Axl found her and I want to get a good image of her."

"She's short, dark hair, younger," Ty says, parroting what Axl is telling him.

"Good," Anders says with a sigh of relief. "Wait, how young? She's not like...a teenager, is she?"

"He doesn't know." Ty turns his back on Anders again to listen to Axl. "Okay, see you in five."

"Please tell me he got pictures."

"No he didn't get pictures," Ty says, sounding disgusted and pushing Anders away again.

"Come on, you've got to give me more than 'young', 'short', 'dark hair' and a name. I want to know what I'm getting into here."

"And you will, when Axl gets here."

* * *

_Author's Note: Thank you for reading! I hope it isn't all that obvious, but I don't know New Zealand (or their currency system, which is surprisingly difficult to write without knowledge of). If something is coming across as off please let me know so I can fix it ASAP.  
_


	2. Chapter 2

**Holding His Heart**

_~insanity and co~_

_Chapter Two; "Mush, Ullr! To Penny!"_

* * *

"Short, dark hair, younger – but the almighty Odin doesn't know _how young." _Anders sighs and throws his head back, sending Axl a glare over the back of the couch. "Not much to go on, is it?"

"I'm bad with guessing ages, lay off," Axl whines, spinning the bar stool he was sitting on and stopping when a loud squeak rings through Anders' apartment.

"But, she _is _the One?" Mike asks, accepting a beer as Olaf - who promptly ignored Anders' protests – passes the beers he found in the fridge around the room.

"I think so," Axl says, his voice smaller now that all of his brothers and grandfather were staring at him expectantly.

"What makes you think so?" Olaf asks after a long sip, smacking his lips.

"I saw her do the talking thing," Axl says, looking around the apartment over the rim of his beer.

"How do you know she's not just charismatic?" Olaf asks.

"She's a little geeky...aren't they supposed to be all awkward around people and shit? And by the way, she did the thing! Like Anders does. She talked to this guy and his eyes got all droopy and he smiled. Whatever she said, he looked like he was under a spell."

"And she uses it to get people to pay for their overdue movies. What a waste," Anders says quietly with a tsk, drifting off for a moment until Mike snapped his fingers in front of him.

"Is she a mortal?"

"I don't know. How would I know?" Axl says, quickly becoming defensive over the interrogation. He sips at his beer and glances around the apartment. "Did you do something with your place? New cactus! That's it!"

"You're shit at changing topics," Anders shoots at Axl as he quickly crosses the room to inspect a new cactus plant added to the collection on the shelves. Anders rolls his eyes when Axl raises his shoulders and widens his eyes – the complete image of innocence – and Anders' flips around on the couch, a witty (and likely low) shot on the tip of his tongue.

"Well, usually you can tell with that sort of thing," Mike says, quickly intervening on a spat waiting to happen between the two brothers.

Olaf sets his beer down on the coffee table with a loud smack. "Like with Eva, you just knew she was a Goddess."

"Yeah, got that one wrong, though," Anders mutters with a huff, shrugging off the _shut up Anders_ look Mike sent him.

"Shut up!" Axl seems to voice everyone's opinion with that. "I didn't feel like I did with Eva, but what she did, that was not normal mortal stuff. That was God business. Or..._Goddess_ business, I guess," Axl says, nose scrunching up as he added the last bit.

"Or she's too young to know she's a Goddess yet," Olaf adds.

"Is she that young?" Anders hisses, turning sharply to Axl and sounding more desperate than any of them had heard him in a long time.

"Love knows no bounds, and age is merely a number. I'm 93 for crying out loud," Olaf says, interrupting Axl who takes a long moment to sip (chug) his beer.

"Grandpa, please," Anders says, throwing a hand out to shush him.

"I dunno, probably," Axl said sheepishly after the beer was gone, flinching away even before Anders leaped off the couch at him.

"'_Probably_'?Jesus Christ, Axl! _Th__at_ is something you should have told me!" Anders screams out, shoving his brother's shoulder and pacing around the back of the couch. "I need another beer. I don't want to be a sober cradle robber!"

"You won't be doing _any_ robbing-" Mike starts, shouting over the sound of Anders rummaging through the fridge.

"_Thank you!_" Olaf breaths out.

"-until we check this girl out," he finishes, earning a defeated sigh from Olaf and a whooping approval from Anders...who pauses only to chug his can of beer in one go.

"Let's hunt her down, Mike," Anders says eagerly, tossing the can and grabbing his jacket off the back of the couch. "I'm not going to be able to sleep at night until I meet her and get my powers back."

"I'm not a dog, you could say _please,"_ Mike says, watching with a raised eyebrow as Anders stops abruptly, jacket over one shoulder.

"You don't want to _meet her_," Olaf says, giving Anders a rude look over his own beer. "You want to see if she's a ten."

"Grandpa, I'm insulted," Anders says, hopping on one foot to tie a shoelace. "A seven or eight would be fine. Geeky...I think I can work with that. Hot librarian geeky? No time! Mush, Ullr! To Penny!" Anders yells, nearly shoving Mike off the couch and throwing his jacket fully-on. "Come on!"

"If only you were this enthusiastic in finding Frigg!" Axl shouts from the kitchen, sighing when Olaf and Mike slowly follow Anders. He chugs the rest of his beer, slams it on the counter, and follows his brothers out of the apartment.

"Today would be nice!" Anders' voice drifts up from the driveway, but Axl keeps a slow pace out to the car.

* * *

"This feels like stalking," Axl says, shifting uncomfortably in the backseat of Anders' car. His knees were pressing awkwardly into the driver's seat ever since they got near the video store and Anders insisted they all "stay low".

"That's because it _is_ stalking," Anders whispers, sinking into his seat as they creep along the street at a crawl.

"Well at least none of us have any illusions about it," Olaf hisses back.

"So if we do find her-"

"_When_ we do find her, Mike, don't sell yourself short," Anders cuts in.

"-what's your plan?" Mike finishes.

"Wasn't aware I needed a plan," Anders says with a shrug, turning down a smaller street. "Is that the place?"

"That's the one," Axl answers, pointing to a small video store squished between an auto store and a printing store. "So what now?"

"Can you find her from here?" Anders asks eagerly, finding a nearby parking spot where the video store was just barely in sight.

"I can find where she went after work but it's getting late." Mike looks around the dark street and everyone sinks further into their seats when a man on a bike flies past the drivers side.

"What, you need your beauty sleep?" Anders asks with a scoff and Mike swats his head.

"She's probably _home_, Anders. Sleeping. I can't imagine she'd want four men knocking on her door late at night." Olaf's voice of reason makes the three other men pause for just a moment until they finally agree.

"Alright, fine. So we find where she lives then." Anders nods and turns to Mike with an expectant stare. "Let's go, come on, boy."

"Shut up," Mike growls.

"This is _definitely_ stalking," Axl grumbles with a sigh.

"Hey, if you've got a problem with this you can get out right now," Anders says, pointing a threatening finger back to where Axl is slouched in the backseat.

"Fine, let's get this over with, Mike," Axl says, crossing his arms.

"Drive that way." Mike points down the street past the video store and Anders starts the car up, everyone peaking up over the bottom of the windows as they creep along the street at a snails-pace.


	3. Chapter 3

**Holding His Heart**

_~insanity and co~_

* * *

_Chapter Three; "That Poor, Poor Girl."_

* * *

They found the house.

Of course they found the house, it was Ullr on her trail, after all.

It was small, light blue and cozy with a light on in one of the windows upstairs. Anders groaned when he saw the Hello Kitty umbrella leaning up near the front door and if it wasn't for Mike covering his mouth and dragging him off the front porch, he would have woken up the whole neighborhood.

The thick line of bushes around the sides of the house make for perfect hiding and stalking material, as noticed by all four boys when the porch light across the street flickers on.

It takes several circles around the house (hiding in the thickets and hushing each other for every broken branch and shuffle) before they're certain that nobody is awake downstairs, and while they found the house, Anders' hopes of seeing his One are dashed.

After a good half an hour of Anders trying to peak into windows and even attempting to break into the back porch door via a broken twig, Olaf and Mike have the decency to pull him away and stuff him back into the car before the cops are called; Axl playing lookout and making sure the neighbors didn't notice four suspicious people sneaking around.

"You will not break into someone's house on my watch," Mike scolds, roughly slamming the car door and causing everyone to freeze until they're sure no one in the house had heard them.

The boys each get back into the car and they pull away from the curb.

"Well at least you know where she lives," Axl says with a shrug, straightening up in the seat once they were a few blocks away.

"Yes, now Anders has an address to help him stalk this poor girl," Olaf says sarcastically, crossing his arms.

"Poor girl? Really, grandpa? Poor girl? No, poor _me_!" Anders says, twisting in his seat. "I'm the only one here left with half of their powers and out of everyone in the world mine were given to this geeky little girl. Now there's some wonky prophecy about having to get with the Brag-ster-"

"You did _not_ just refer to yourself as the Brag-ster," Axl groans.

"-so I would say it's a win for her. Hmm?" Anders finished, eyebrows raised and challenging his grandfather to disprove his logic.

"Ohhh, that _poor girl_!" Olaf moans, throwing his arm over his eyes and ignoring the scowl from his grandson.

"Would you stop with that?" Anders yells, turning again only to be pushed back into his seat by Mike.

"Well he's got a point!" Axl butts in.

"That poor, poor girl-"

"If everyone will just _shut up_." Surprisingly, everyone does as they're told and Mike takes a slow, calming breath as they come to a stop sign. "You will go home tonight and sleep," he says, pointing a finger to Anders who thinks for a moment before nodding. "No stalking, no breaking into people's houses _and I don't care if they're the One_," he adds when Anders' mouth flies open to protest. "No breaking into people's houses."

"I've got classes tomorrow, can we hurry this up?" Axl asks and though Mike rounds on him, he seems to agree after a moment of thought.

"Yeah, sure."

"Drop me off first?" Olaf asks, tilting his head forward and giving his grandson his best 'you know you want to' look.

"You're living with _me_ and we're all the way across town, why would I drop you off first?" Mike asks slowly, his irritation bubbling up to the surface.

"Because I'm tired."

"The order goes Axl, Anders, and then we can go home."

"But I'm really tired-"

"_That wasn't a question!"_

* * *

"You sure they're gone?" Penny asks, peaking her head up from beneath the mountain of blankets that had been dumped on her. She pushed the dark hair from her eyes and straightened her pajama top.

"Yeah, their car's gone," Lee says, peaking through the curtains and pulling them back when he was satisfied that the stalkers were gone. "You should probably carry a gun from now on, though."

"A gun? That's a little excessive, isn't it?" Penny asks, throwing the blankets onto the ground in a heap and grabbing the controller from the coffee table.

"Says the girl that enjoys shooting off heads-"

"Of Nazi's! They deserve it." She grins and Lee kicks her feet off the coffee table to pass by and sits next to her, fishing the other controller out from between the cushions.

"Let the competition resume!" Lee yells with a gleeful laugh and turns the TV back on.

"Shhh! It's a secret competition!" Penny hisses, grinning when loud footsteps echoed through the house from the second story.

"_SOME OF US HAVE TO WORK TOMORROW!" _The voice screams in irritation and a door is slammed shut. Penny and Lee sit frozen on the couch for a few moments, waiting until the footsteps stomped back across the room.

"Let the competition resume!" Lee whispers, pressing start and their thumbs flew into a frenzy on the controllers.

A loud, shrill ring fills the house and in a flash the game is paused, Penny's controller is thrown onto the cushion and the girl flies across the room to grab the phone before the third ring begins.

"Hello?" she asks quietly, stepping around the dining room table and peaking through the curtains to the empty street below.

"Penny, this is Ruth McAnthony from across the street," an old woman's voice fills the air, just a little too loud and causing the two to cringe.

"Oh, yes. Hello Ruth, what can I-"

"Are you aware that there were four odd fellows sneaking around your house just a moment ago?" Her voice cuts Penny off crisply, but she had grown used to the older woman's sharper tongue and brushed off the irritation.

Penny notices the light on Ruth's porch is on and a curtain is nudged to the side, no doubt where the older woman had been spying on the stalkers.

"Yes, Lee and myself took care of it, there's no need to worry-"

"I nearly called the police when they came crawling up in that beaten up car. I told myself, _'Those young men look like they're up to no good',_ and boy was I right. Immediately they went over to your house and went around the sides and back multiple times. I had the police on-"

"Thank you very much for your concern, but my roommate and I have the situation under-"

Penny let the curtains fall back and she sighed.

"I had the number for the police right on the tip of my fingers and was ready to go and grab my telephone-"

"They're gone now, and there's really no reason to-"

"A young woman like yourself should always worry when the likes of them are sneaking around-"

"A young woman like myself has a young man like Mr. Gusse here to protect her," Penny says sharply, cutting off Ruth in the same manner as the old woman does, effectively quieting the older woman and sending a wide grin across Lee's face.

"Mr. Gusse, young-woman-protector," he whispers with a snicker.

"And it's quite late," Penny says quickly when Ruth takes a deep breath, ready to go off onto another tangent. "I really have to be getting to bed."

"Well, yes, I suppose it is very late," she says slowly and sighs. "Please be careful, dear. I only worry because-"

"And thank you so much for your concern, but I am very well taken care of here and do have work in the morning. I'll see you tomorrow at the mailboxes." Penny clicks the phone off and sets it back on the receiver, sighing and tiptoeing back to the couch where Lee has her controller in his hand.

She takes it and sinks into the couch.

"Any more distractions coming our way?" Lee asks, finger on the button that would restart their competition.

"You're going down."

* * *

_Author's Note: A very special thanks to all the reviewers so far! :) Your words are so encouraging._


	4. Chapter 4

**Holding His Heart**

_~insanity and co~_

* * *

_Chapter Four; "A Family Of Freaks."_

* * *

"How do you even know she'll be here?" Anders asks, fidgeting, shifting, and generally keeping his brothers on edge. They all stand with their backs against the brick wall in an alleyway, the image of innocence as they peak out onto the dark street at the video store.

"She was closing last week, wasn't she? She should be closing again tonight," Axl answers, slapping Anders' hand down when he went to scratch his stubble for the hundredth time. "And would you _stop_ moving? You look suspicious."

"We all look suspicious because we _are_ suspicious!" Ty cut in, sighing and crossing his arms, just as restless as Anders but out of worry that they would get in trouble. He leans with his shoulder against the wall and being the one closest to the street, checks again to see if the store had closed yet.

Olaf – learning from his mistake the last time – was opting to spend time with his good friend Ingrid and raid Anders' apartment of all edible things rather than wandering across town for more "stalk the poor poor girl" time. Especially since there was very little (strike that, absolutely no) chance of pulling Anders off the scent of his One when he was so determined.

Mike – with the boys learning from their mistake the last time – was opting not to come as he had not been informed. Surely he would have hunted them down if he had known, which would be only too easy for him, and stop them.

Ty was recruited by sheer physical proximity...and Axl's car had just broken down (again), Anders' car was getting a new paint job, and that left him with the only set of working wheels. They had all left Anders' apartment, Ty being dragged very halfheartedly, and leaving Olaf and Ingrid to relax with every intention of raiding both his kitchen and the booze cabinet (even the one hidden in the bathroom).

"Black hair?" Ty asks, retreating from the street and pushing Anders off of him when the smaller brother pounced.

"Black hair? Did you say black hair? Axl? Did she have black hair? I could've sworn you said blonde," Anders jabbers, swiping at the hands that pushed him away and ignoring the both of them when they shushed him.

"I never said blonde hair!" Axl whispers harshly and Anders calms down with a huff. "She has black hair."

"Yep, she's there. Tiding up the front so it looks like they're closing soon."

"Perfect," Anders mutters, getting only one step towards the street before he's hauled back into the darkness of the alleyway.

"Maybe Ty should be the one she talks to first," Axl says slowly, earning himself a 'what-the-fuck' look from both of his brothers. "Well I sort of started talking about powers, so she might just slam the door on my face."

"And what about me? Why would she slam the door on my face?" Anders asks quickly, eyebrows raised and challenging.

"Erm, well-"

"Who wouldn't slam the door on your face?" Ty asks with a quick grin to his frowning brother.

"Ouch, cold." Ty shoots Anders a glare but the god of poetry (or 'half the god', as the others' have lovingly called him), fixes his hair up, straightens his tie, and waltzes across the street before Ty or Axl can get a good grip on his arm to drag him back.

With a skip in his step and a mental pat on his back for his perfect timing, Anders jiggles the handle of the store and knocks very loudly. He can see a head of black hair bobbing around behind the counter and waits (in more anticipation than he would ever admit) for her to turn around just as Ty and Axl join him.

He waits.

And waits.

And waits.

And Anders Johnson is not a fan of waiting so he knocks louder.

"Pissing her off is probably not a good place to start," Ty says, his hand hovering over Anders' shoulder and preparing to haul him back down into the alley.

"She just didn't hear me," Anders says and squares his shoulders, knocking so loud the door rattles on its hinges.

Ty watches as the girls shoulders sag a bit, raise up as she takes a breath before she turns around. They can hear the loud stomp in her step as she comes around to the front of the store, her face anything but the epitome of pleasant customer service. She pulls the handle of the door, turns a lock, and in a flash the small girl – smaller even than Anders! - is standing on the sidewalk with her arms crossed and a very pissed off look on her face.

"Do I need to call the cops?"

"Cops? What? No, we were just wondering if you were still open. We'd like to rent a couple of movies," Anders says smoothly, flashing her a smile that does nothing to ease the irritated look about her and it slips off of his face a moment later.

"Does it look like we're open? The sign doesn't say open."

"Well there's no need to get pissy-"

"No, I think I have every right to be 'pissy'," Penny cuts Anders off and moves her hands to her hips. "You all start spouting off nonsense about powers and then you _family of freaks_ _follow me home_ and now you show up at my work after we've closed?" She pauses, waiting for any of them to say something in their defense but they don't. "Stop. Stalking. Me."

Before Anders or Ty or Axl can say or do anything, the door is slammed shut and locked with a loud click. Her dark hair flies around her shoulders as she spins on her heels and walks to the back of the store. A moment later the lights in the overhang above the sidewalk flicker off.

"Well someone's a little testy today," Anders says, surprisingly upbeat as he walks with a skip in his step across the street back through the alleyway.

"I have a feeling she's onto us," Ty says, sending a glare at the oblivious brother in front of him. "And I don't think she's very fond of you."

"She doesn't have to be fond of me." Anders smirks and motions to Ty's car until he unlocks it. "And I don't have to be fond of her," he continues, slipping into the passenger's seat. "I just need to get my powers back and we can go our separate ways."

Ty and Axl join him and Ty turns the car on, letting it warm up for a minute and watching Anders out of the corner of his eye. The shortest Johnson brother is leaning against the car door, running his fingers through his beard and staring out onto the street with a smile uncharacteristic for someone who had just been shut down.

"You...don't seem very upset," Axl says cautiously.

"Did you see how fiery she is?" Anders stops messing with his beard and turns with an excited smile to his brothers.

"Figures," Ty mutters, pulling out onto the street.

"What figures?" Axl whispers, leaning close to the back of Ty's seat.

"Rejection won't deter him," Ty whispers back, his words just barely caught by Anders.

"Deter who?" he asks distractedly, eyes fixed on something only he could see.

"From that poor poor girl."

* * *

_Author's Note: You guys! The sudden response to this has been fantastic! I try my best to respond to each and every one of you because it really does make my day when someone not only takes the time to read a story of mine, but to write something about it as well! :) You're all awesome! And I agree with the many of you who say there are not enough Anders/OC stories out there, but you all know how to remedy that, right? Write!_


	5. Chapter 5

**Holding His Heart**

_~insanity and co~_

* * *

_Chapter Five; "Hugs For Poor Anders."_

* * *

"We could pop out for some burgers. You can get those curly fries you love," Lee sings out, wiggling his eyebrow at Penny.

She takes a big spoonful out of the peanut butter jar and crams it (in a less-than-lady-like fashion) into her mouth. "I don't really want to go out for burgers right now," she says, her words barely audible around the spoon.

"Coffee?"

"Uh-uh."

"Beers?"

She fixes him a stare and when he doesn't budge she throws her hands up, her lips smacking when she takes out the spoon and throws it into the sink with a crash. "Yeah, sure, make me a fake ID and I'll think about it."

"Right, forgot about that. Alright. So...burgers?"

"No."

"It's because of your stalkers, isn't it? You know, maybe Ruthie was right. We should call the cops if you're that worried about them-"

"I'm not worried about them. They're harmless," Penny says, smiling honestly at Lee for his effort to bring her out of the house and leaving the kitchen.

"Harmless until you're lying naked and dying in an alleyway, the skin of your calves taken off with a cheese grater and nasty words carved into the bottom of your-" Lee stops quickly when he rounds a corner and sees Penny, staring at him with wide eyes and her mouth half-open. "Sorry...too graphic?"

"A little," she says, eyes still wide as she blinks away the images his words bring up. "Jesus Christ, you have to stop watching Law and Order. I'm going to my room."

Penny trots up the stairs, leaving Lee to follow her from the kitchen a little ways behind.

"Benson's a babe, though, you know I can't stop watching her kick some as-AAHH!"

"So sorry to startle you, Mr. Gusse," Ruth says with a kind smile, ignoring the man who is gasping and holding a hand over his chest, pointing and waving wordlessly at the woman who had appeared in their house.

"What's going on?" Penny asks, her feet slamming on the floor as she races back from her room. Halfway down the stairs she stops and tries to hide her irritation at the old woman's intrusion with a strained smile.

"You were the one I was after," Ruth said, turning and nodding her head to Penny, her massive outdoor jacket hiding her neck and giving her the appearance of a bobble-head.

"You _meant_ to scare the holy living piss out of us?" Lee snaps and is ignored.

"I'm sorry, Ruth, but why are you in our home? We didn't invite-"

"That's exactly my point, Miss Penny." Ruth turns and points to the front door not very far away, where a slight breeze pushes it open just a little further. "You see, I rarely see anyone lock the door behind them when they leave, and with those nasty boys crawling around the other night I was certain you would all step up your game in the security measures of this place."

"Just how much do you watch us?" Lee asks, stepping away and giving Ruth a wide berth as she steps closer to Penny, who had refused to come completely down from the stairs.

"Never you mind," she snaps quickly at Lee, her face morphing from a kind smile to a sharp glare so quickly Lee takes another big step away. "I would just hate to see a sweet young lady get taken advantage of-"

"Listen here, the both of you!" Penny yells, stomping down the steps and pointing her finger first at Ruth and then at Lee. The two shut up immediately and she takes a deep breath. "I will not get taken advantage of. I will not wake up in an alleyway with the skin of my calves grated off and nasty things carved into my skin-" Ruth's mouth drops open at that last bit. "I _will_, however, be going to my room because I have had a long day of work and I _just _want to go to sleep. Got it?" Both of their mouths open in protest but she stops them. "Ahh! No! No more protests, no more worrying about me. Goodnight." Without waiting for either of them to reply, Penny takes the stairs two at a time and slams her bedroom door shut.

* * *

"Oh, so you found her then!" Ingrid says, grinning and filling up a coffee mug with red wine, having decided that dishes would definitely not be done anytime soon and that she could make do without a wine glass for the celebration. "That's wonderful. So, who is this mysterious _One_ you've been after?"

She turns her gossipy eyes eagerly to Anders, who takes the offered mug of wine with only a moment of hesitation at the bizarre gesture.

"Her name's Penny," Anders says, taking a sip and joining Olaf on the couch.

"And?" Ingrid prompts, following him into the living room and when Olaf declines the offered mug of wine she shrugs and pours it into her own.

"And that's about it so far," Anders says quietly with a sigh, busying himself by gulping the contents of the mug. "Short, dark hair, works at a video store and her name is Penny."

"What do you mean? You haven't spoken to her yet?"

Anders mutters into his mug but Olaf lets out a loud bark of a laugh, clapping a hand on his grandson's shoulder so hard the wine almost sloshes onto his lap.

"This is my favorite part! Go on! Keep going!" Olaf urges, giggling and ignoring the glare Anders sends him.

"What happened?" Ingrid asks slowly, noisily adjusting the many necklaces resting on her chest and eying Olaf at his gleeful laughter.

"She slammed-"

"-_slammed the door on his face!"_ Olaf yells out, slapping Anders on the back and doubling over with his manic giggles. At this point, it's difficult to tell whether he's truly _this _thrilled about Anders' rejection or if the pot cookies have kicked in yet.

"Oh, you poor dear," Ingrid mutters, setting her mug of wine aside and scooting closer to pat his hand.

"Thank you! At least someone has a little sympathy for me," Anders says, exaggerating a nod in Olaf's direction.

"Oh, you need a hug," Ingrid says, motioning for him to stand up as she does.

"A hug is a little too much sympathy, don't you think?" Anders says, muttering and grumbling as Ingrid pulls him up from the couch (away from the thundering laughter of his grandfather, which is the only plus), sets his wine on the coffee table and tugs him into a hug that is far too tight to be of much comfort. "Yep, okay, that's nice but we're done now. Enough hugging, Ingrid."

"Oh, let the boy go," Olaf says between giggles. "He's been tortured enough for one day."

"But I love hugs and _my hugs are not torture_," Ingrid says, her words becoming fiercer towards the end when she realizes that he had insulted her hugs. Her perfectly wonderful hugs. She pulls away slowly and Anders takes full advantage of his freedom to step away and sit on another chair, away from the bat-shit crazy God and Goddess who had taken up residence in his apartment for the time being.

"I can't wait to hear about which Goddess she is," Ingrid says, grabbing the mug that Anders had abandoned and poured it into her own.

"Wait, you think she's a Goddess?" Anders asks, holding a hand up and stopping her mid-pour.

"Well, uh, you see...powers of the Gods are often a...Godly thing," Ingrid says slowly, hands frozen with the two mugs in front of her and a smile returning to her face after the brief confusion. "I would only assume that if your powers were to be given to someone else, they would be a Goddess, not a mortal."

"Solid logic," Olaf says, bowing his head towards Ingrid.

"So this chick's gonna be a Goddess," Anders mutters to himself. "Is that good or bad?"

"Wonderful," Ingrid cries out.

"Bad," Olaf counters in the same moment.

* * *

_Author's Note: So...you guys probably don't know just how awesome you are. Seriously...I don't think you do. You are all fantastic! I don't think I've ever had so many people be so wonderful and encouraging with a story of mine before. :) It's a wonderful thing to be at work and kind of feeling all 'blah' and then get a bunch of messages and know that people are getting some enjoyment out of this. You all ROCK! (And I'm also not from New Zealand at all, so if some of the slang or lingo or word-choices are off, please let me know so I can correct it!)_


	6. Chapter 6

**Holding His Heart**

_~insanity and co~_

_Chapter Six; "Distracted."_

* * *

"Do you plan to do any work today?"

"Hmm?"

"You know, _work_? You come to the _work_place for it...well, _I _come here for it...," Dawn mutters, trailing off and rolling her eyes before peaking around the corner at her boss again.

"What was that?" Anders asks, fingers still playing with the small amount of hair on his chin and staring out of the large window.

"_Work_, Anders!" Dawn stresses, dropping her pen onto her desk with a clatter as she stands and marches over to Anders' desk. "Work. Why are you so preoccupied?"

"Hm?"

"Are you ill?"

"Ill? No, course not. You know I don't get sick, Dawnie." Anders flashes her a reassuring smile – albeit cocky, as usual – and motions with his hand to her desk. "Now, would you mind getting back to work? Phone calls to make, customers to keep happy-happy..."

Dawn lets out of a huff, gives Anders a searching glare for any illness she may have overlooked when he first came into the office and sat down to stare out the window for hours. But there wasn't anything she could figure out from his lazy demeanor.

"Fine, fine," Dawn says, throwing her hands up in frustration as she stomps back to her desk. "_Someone_ has to keep this company going."

* * *

"No work today?" Moana's words jerk Penny out of her thoughts; her hand dropping from the curtain and it swishes back over the window. "Anyone out there?"

"No and no," Penny says with a small smile, stepping away from the window and hopping up onto the kitchen counter. "Lazy day for me. Might go out for some food later."

"With all the closing shifts you've been having, I thought you'd still be asleep." Moana throws her dark hair into a bun and moves around the kitchen, grabbing tea and filling a pot with water (the kettle having broken and had yet to be replaced). "Tea?"

"Thanks," Penny says, leaning to the side so that Moana could get to the cupboard behind her for two mugs. "Slept really well until about an hour ago."

"Lee tells me you're scared of these four guys that threatened to carve nasty things into your skin?" Moana pulls a chair away from the table and sits, glancing at Penny out of the corner of her eye.

"Subtle topic change," Penny says wearily.

"I know, it's Lee. I figure the skin-carving is over the top."

"He watches too much Law and Order," Penny mutters.

"But there are four guys after you?"

"Not _after_ me. They showed up at work and...kinda followed me home." Smartly so, Penny decides to omit the part where they show up at her work _again_, and all of the nonsense about Gods.

"Have you thought about calling the police?" Moana gets up when the water begins to bubble and pours the tea, adding sugar to Penny's cup and setting it on the counter beside her.

"They're not going to carve anything into my skin," Penny emphasizes. Moana puts a hand up in surrender, the other holding the mug up so she could sip the tea.

"I think that's a little extreme too," she says quickly, taking one more sip. "But it's never a good thing to have a group of stalkers. What about some mace?"

"In my purse," Penny says distractedly.

"Why do you think they're doing it?"

Penny shrugs and leans her head back against the cupboard behind her. Honestly, that's what had been occupying her mind since that first man – Axl – had started spouting off about Gods and her having powers. Powers to _talk!_

"Mentally ill, maybe? I'm really not sure."

"Okay," Moana says, "Well, I have to go to work, but if this keeps happening promise you'll give me a call?"

Penny smiles and nods, waiting until Moana puts her mug into the sink and leaves the kitchen. She scoots across the counter and uses a finger to move the curtains and peak out at the street again.

* * *

"Anders! What are you doing home so early?" Ingrid asks, a blanket around her shoulders and clearly having just woken up. She grabbed the remote and turned the volume down on the TV.

Anders stifles his irritation that the Goddess was _still_ sleeping on his couch and went straight to the kitchen. "I was tired. Dawn can handle the customers today."

"Did you want some coffee? I made a big batch about 30 minutes ago," Ingrid says, adjusting the large blanket around her and shuffling into the kitchen.

"Sure," Anders mutters, sitting on the stool and resting his chin on his hand. Scanning the kitchen, he notices that she must have done the dishes and cleaned the counters, and his irritation at the woman dissipates just a little. "Where did Olaf go?"

"Oh, I imagine surfing. It's a beautiful day. He was gone when I woke up," Ingrid says, messing around in the kitchen until she has a grossly sweet cup of coffee sat in front of Anders.

"Thanks," Anders says, accepting the cup and sipping the coffee, hoping it would wake him up a little after a nearly-sleepless night.

"So, did you see the mysterious Penny today?" Ingrid asks, unable to hide her grin as she watches his face closely.

"No, I really did go to work."

"Oh, I was hoping for some more news. It would be great to have another Goddess in the group. Stacey is wonderful but she's so busy with work and Michele is...well, we don't always see eye-to-eye," Ingrid says with a warm smile despite the topic of being lonely.

"Next time I go to see her-"

"Stalk her."

"-fine, whatever. You can come. It might be easier to get the subject across if it comes from you instead of us." Before Anders completely finishes his sentence the blanket flies off of Ingrid's shoulders and she races around the counter to gather the tired man up into a bundle of hugs and thank you's and mutterings of doing the dishes more often.

* * *

_Author's Note: It has been quite a while since I updated, but oh my god, all of you guys are amazing! The constant input from everyone was so encouraging! :) I tried to go through and thank people but decided a better thank you would be to work on an update and get it up for you all. A MASSIVE thank you to everyone who is still reading and sent those encouraging notes to keep writing. It was really really helpful. :)_


	7. Chapter 7

**Holding His Heart**

_~insanity and co~_

* * *

_Chapter Seven; "Two Wrongs and a Ride"_

* * *

"We should not be doing this. We should _definitely_ not be doing this," Lee mutters, crouching down behind Penny in the bushes a few miles away from their house.

"And why not?" Penny asks in a whisper, eyes flickering up and down the street.

"Isn't there something about _'two wrongs don't make a right_'?"

"I'm not looking to make things right, am I?" Penny retorts sharply, turning to glance at Lee over her shoulder. "And since when do you ever live by that rule?"

"Fine, whatever. This still doesn't feel right." Lee shrugged and sat back on his heels, adjusting his legs which were getting sore from the constant crouching and short bursts of running.

"Probably because it's not."

"So why are we doing it? Why did you drag _me_ into this?" Lee asks, jumping when a car drove past and relaxing just a bit when the street fell silent again.

"I thought you didn't want me to have my skin shredded off with a cheese-grater, or something like that," Penny says distractedly, voice just barely loud enough for Lee to hear.

"I don't-"

"That's why I brought you along. Protection...of sorts," Penny adds, glancing once more at Lee behind her with a small grin.

"Of sorts?" Lee whispers sharply, but Penny dashes across the street and after a moment of checking both directions and seeing that the coast was clear, he takes off after her.

"This is how people get lured into dungeons and tortured to death!" Lee hisses when he joins Penny, crouching behind a van.

"This isn't a video game," Penny says, rolling her eyes and moving to peer behind the van.

"You're right, so when we kill us they _actually_ kill us." Lee waits for some quip from Penny but she was either ignoring him or had nothing to say to that. "How did you find this place, anyway?" Lee asks, becoming more curious as he glances out at the nice-looking house just half a block down the street. It looked cozy, warm...definitely not where he thought a stalker would live.

"That man that came to the store, Axl. He used his membership card. Found his address in our system."

"Isn't that...illegal?"

"I'm really not sure, actually," Penny says, only slightly distracted by that thought.

"So, we found the house," Lee says slowly, retreating back behind the van completely and sitting on the cold sidewalk. "What's the plan now?"

"I dunno, I didn't really have a plan," Penny replies sheepishly. "They stalked me, I wanted to see why. Why did they choose me?"

Lee's face softens a bit, but he still looks worried and on edge. "I'm not sure that looking at their house at night is going to give you any answers."

Penny's shoulder slump and she sighs, leaning her head back against the van.

"I guess."

"Should we get some food?" Lee asks, standing up and offering his hand to help Penny up. She nods and accepts, letting him pull her to her feet. She takes a final glance at the surprisingly nice-looking house, pretty flowers lining the walkway and shadows moving behind the lightened windows, and turns to follow Lee down the street.

* * *

"You would be able to tell, wouldn't you, Ingrid?" Anders asks, bolting upright from the couch and turning to the tipsy Oracle. His own wine glass sloshed in his hand but miraculously did not spill all over the couch. "If you were to see Penny, you could tell if she was a Goddess, right?"

"I have been able to tell with Agnetha and Michele, yes. But Stacey not so much," Ingrid said slowly, as if expecting the sharp-tongued Fulla to appear and take offense. "There's really no telling if I will know her Goddess-status."

Anders grabbed the remote and turned the TV off, turning to fully face the Goddess with a newly-found energy.

"We go find her, you look at her and do your..._Goddess_, thing. Whatever you do," Anders says, waving his hand around vaguely in the air. Ingrid takes a long moment, staring at the black TV screen and hmm-ing to herself. She takes the last long gulp of her glass and grinned.

"I shall do my Goddess thing!" she says, grinning through her overly-professional tone. "But you are in no driving-state!" Ingrid yells and points accusingly when Anders scrambles to get to his feet.

He falters for a moment and sways on his feet. "You might be right."

"But I know someone who can drive us!" Ingrid whispers with a grin, shushing Anders – despite the fact that he was not talking – while she whips out her cellphone and dials a number. "Ty!" she cries out happily, slurring several over-the-top compliments until the man on the phone hushes her and asks her to get to the point.

"Anders is being very rude to me," Ingrid says, her voice cross but she grins nontheless. "I require a ride somewhere less rude!"

Anders gives her a questioning quirk of his eyebrow but he's shushed by Ingrid again.

"Well, he's being very rude, you see. And I would rather not have him drive me anywhere and be rude during the car ride and you are a very kind person, Ty. I can't imagine you'd be rude to an old Oracle-"

"Fine, fine fine." Anders hears Ty's voice over the phone loudly shushing the drunk, half-giggling woman. He lets out a long sigh, says a few more words that seem to delight Ingrid before hanging up.

"I'm _rude_, now?" Anders asks, feigning pain at her lies.

"Shhhhhh," Ingrid giggles, holding a finger up to hush him as she gets to her feet and stows her phone in one of her skirt-pockets. "We now have a ride to meet Miss Penny!"

* * *

_Author's Note: Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews! They are so appreciated and keep me thinking about the story everytime I get a little 'bing!' on my phone. :) Happy birthday, Meg! And thank you, RhythmicSound, for being my native-Newzie and helping with a few details to make this maybe not look like it was written by someone who's never been to NZ. :)_


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